Home for the Holidays
by SabbyStarlight
Summary: The Graceland Christmas story that we will never get. A fluffy little holiday fic about Mike and the Graceland gang throwing Paige her first real Christmas.


**My heart is still hurting over the fact that this show is over, especially with the way it ended. So while you're reading this, just pretend that the finale never happened. It's just a happy little seasonal Graceland fic of Mike and the whole gang throwing Paige her first real Christmas.**

"So you really never got to have a Christmas tree?" Mike asked Paige one night as they lay in his bed, her head on his chest with nothing but a sheet covering them from the salty ocean air blowing in through his open window.

"Nope." She answered with a small shrug.

"That's horrible. I can't even imagine what that must have been like. Growing up without Christmas." Mike said.

"It was just one of those things. You can't miss something you never had." Paige told him, sleepily tracing a heart on his chest.

"But Christmas… it's magic, Paige. It's friends and family making memories together. Strangers helping strangers for no reason other than the time of year. It's Christmas carols and peppermint and hot cocoa and lights. Everything is just, better." Mike tried to explain.

"I'll take your word for it, Warren." Paige said around a yawn. "Now shut up and go to sleep." She closed her eyes as he automatically wrapped his arm tighter around her, keeping her close to him as she drifted off to sleep. Mike though, was wide awake, an idea forming in his mind.

Two days later, the first week of December, Mike called an emergency house meeting while Paige was out It was her week to do the grocery shopping and Mike had made sure to add some obscure items to the list, ensuring that she would be out of the house long enough for them to put a plan together.

"What's this about Mikey?" Charlie asked as she entered the living room, setting down on the sofa next to Briggs who instinctively put an arm around her shoulders without looking away from the television.

"Bro if this is your way of letting us know that you and Paige are sleeping together again, we know." Johnny admitted from where he was sprawled out on the couch, taking up more room than Paul and Charlie together.

"We've all known. For weeks." Jakes announced, walking down the stairs. "But shouldn't Paige be here for this little coming out party?"

"No!" Mike exclaimed. "And that's not what this is, though we thought we were being careful keeping it from you guys…"

"Okay, Warren. Explain. Why are we having a house meeting about you and your girlfriend without your girlfriend here?" Briggs asked, speaking for the first time.

Mike sighed, not bothering to correct the older man on his relationship status.

"Paige never got to have a Christmas growing up. No tree or presents from Santa or big family dinner. Nothing. And when Charlie brought home those, umm, unique, ornaments earlier this year," Mike caught a look from Charlie whose face clearly warned him not to insult her ornaments, "I got to thinking. We should throw Paige her first Christmas. Not work and a few decorations thrown here and there with a night of disgusting holiday themed drinks at the bar like usual, but a REAL Christmas. Like we all got to have growing up."

"No offense bro, but I think your little upper-class, east coast, white boy Christmases were a little bit different than most of ours." Johnny said with a smirk.

"Yeah. And I don't think Paige is gonna be upset that she missed out on being forced to sit on some creepy old hairy white man's too warm lap." Jakes added. "She should be grateful that she missed out on some of those 'beloved' Christmas traditions."

"But that's what's so perfect about this!" Mike exclaimed. "We can forget about those! We don't have to include the weird things, we can each just pick one tradition, our very favorite memory of Christmas time growing up, and have an epic Christmas together as a family, for Paige."

Briggs nodded, eyes focused on a spot behind Mike, thinking, before announcing, "I'm in." And standing up to join Mike. "It's a good idea. Paige deserves to know what a real Christmas is like. And we could all use a little Christmas spirit around here."

"It's a great idea, Mike." Charlie said with a smile. "As long as we get to decorate cookies. That was always my favorite."

"Of course." Mike smiled back. "Briggs? Any requests?"

"We would always go find a Christmas tree farm and pick out our tree." He answered, nostalgic look in his eyes. "Hiking through rows and rows of pines until we found the perfect one. "

"Not sure how big of a tree farm we can find in southern Cali but we can probably find something." Johnny told him.

"What about you John-boy? Favorite part of Christmas?" Briggs asked.

"Christmas dinner." He answered automatically. "Ma would start cooking two days before just to get everything ready. Then the whole family would come over and we would set up places at every spare table we could find throughout the house and there still wouldn't be enough room for everyone to eat at one time."

"I can't promise it will be nearly as good as your Mom's," Charlie told him, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek. "But I can certainly cook a Christmas dinner."

"Jakes?" Mike asked the man who was leaning up against the side of the arm chair.

"The moment, after you have spent all day climbing up and down ladders and untangling and fighting with lights, when you finally have them all hung up right and hooked together, the moment when you finally get to plug them up and the house goes from everyday normal to Christmas in the blink of an eye and you can sit back with a cup of cocoa and enjoy your hard work. That's my favorite."

"Awesome lights. We can do that." Mike said nodding.

"What about you, Mike? This whole thing was your idea, you have to have some great memories that inspired this." Charlie asked.

"I just always loved how Christmas was the one time of year that my whole family was together." He answered.

"What's going on?" Paige's voice called in from the doorway. "Why is nobody helping me carry in all these damn groceries?"

Two weeks later Paige, Mike, Briggs, and Charlie pulled up in front of Graceland after discovering the hard way that Paul's car wasn't exactly made for hauling a Christmas tree. They had managed though, all four wearing Christmas t-shirts because it was too hot for sweaters and Christmas carols blasting from the speakers.

Jakes was on the roof, a huge box of lights beside him and a staple gun in hand while Johnny held the ladder for him, a candy cane hanging out of his mouth.

"You two seriously aren't done yet?" Charlie asked, jumping out of the car. "We're ready to do the cookies now!"

"Y'all wanted authentic Christmas, I'm not doing it half-assed!" Jakes yelled from three stories above.

"Just be careful!" Mike yelled back as he began untying the tree. "No room in the Christmas itinerary for a hospital trip!"

The rest of the evening was spent decorating the tree, and Charlie's discount ornaments didn't look as horrible as everyone feared they would once they were among miles of tinsel and lights. And once the sun had set over the ocean, Jakes had his moment of plugging up the lights he had spent all day painstakingly hanging up. He had been right; in that moment, all together with mugs of hot cocoa, the tree and the lights and the smell of Charlie's first batch of sugar cookies baking in the oven, it really felt like Christmas.

The night of Christmas Eve, Mike didn't sleep a wink. Paige was curled into his side sleeping soundly, wearing those adorably tacky reindeer pajamas (Johnny had thought that accepting the cliche and everyone waking up on Christmas morning wearing hideous pajamas would be a nice memory for Paige's first Christmas) but he was wide awake again. He lay there for hours, staring at the beautiful woman beside him, thinking that she was the best Christmas gift he could have ever gotten.

Finally, at three a.m. Mike woke her up with a kiss.

"Merry Christmas." He whispered through the dark.

"It can't be Christmas," She mumbled, pulling the blanket up over her face. "It isn't even morning."

"It is. It's been Christmas for three hours already. Come on," He pulled hard on the covers, tossing them clear onto the floor. "Getting up super early on Christmas morning and waking everyone else in the house up is another great tradition you need to experience."

"Fine." She said as she got out of bed. "But if Briggs throws something at me it's your fault."

Two hours later all the presents that had accumulated under the tree had been demolished, leaving behind a pile of wrapping paper and boxes and bows that was nearly as tall as the tree itself. Everyone had gathered in the kitchen, taking Johnny up on his offer of Christmas pancakes. Everyone except for Mike and Paige.

"Hey," He said reaching behind the couch. "Look at this, one more gift. Oh, 'To: Paige From: Mike.'"

"I thought we were done with the gifts?" She asked him, not able to keep the smile off her face.

"One more." His grin was shy, reminding her of a young little boy.

Paige carefully took the silver box from his hands and untied the big red bow. There was another ribbon inside the box, this one attached to the gift with a loop. She gently pulled the item out of the box revealing a miniature, exact replica, of their home. A tiny Graceland ornament.

"Where did you even FIND something like this?" She asked excitedly.

"I found a website that makes custom ornaments. I sent in a few pictures, some general measurements and they put it together for me. Do you like it?"

"I love it." She assured him. "But why did you get me an ornament for Christmas? I won't really be able to use it until next year."

"I got you an ornament because this is your first real Christmas. And we had it here, together, in this house. And now that you have this, you will always have something to remind you that no matter where you are, long after you are out of Graceland, that this is where Christmas started for you. That this house, these people, me, this is your home. And that's what Christmas is about."

Paige smiled at him with tears in her eyes, before carefully hanging her miniature Graceland on the tree. Once it was there, nestled between the branches and the lights right next to Charlie's weird little baby Jesus, Paige stepped closer to Mike, reaching her arms around his neck before meeting his lips with her's.

Mike broke apart the kiss first, pulling her even closer to him and pressing another kiss to her forehead before mumbling a quiet "I love you," to her skin.

She smiled and placed a quick kiss into the hollow of his throat answering, "Merry Christmas." And though they each said different words, they meant the same thing.

There, in the middle of her first, but certainly not last Christmas with her Graceland family, Paige finally understood why everyone loved this time of year so much. It wasn't the traditions or the decorations or the food, even though those things were great, it was about love and family and having a home to share that love with. And Paige Arkin finally had a home for the holidays.

 **So there you go! Hope you enjoyed and please don't forget to leave a quick review and let me know what you thought.**

 **And I hope you and your loved ones have a very happy holidays!**


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